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Honours Programs

 

Ever thought about an Honours Degree? 

 

Honours could be your last year of tertiary education or it can be used as a pathway into research or professional postgraduate degrees. This qualification represents elite academic performance and a high level of professional and academic development which is recognised nationally and internationally. 

 

The successful completion of an Honours degree, positions an Honours graduate to have an advantage in the job market.  It is also preparation for continuing on with a postgraduate research degree such as a PhD, Masters by Research or Professional Doctorate. 

 

What is Honours?

Honours at the University of South Australia is a research-based, full-time academic year (or equivalent part-time) undertaken at the completion of a bachelor's degree.  An Honours year is an exciting opportunity for guided research enabling you to develop expertise in a specific field of interest, and allows you to develop advanced research and writing skills.   Your program will generally include 50% coursework and 50% writing a thesis of about 18,000 words.  As well as this, Honours students are encouraged to participate in the research culture of the school, research centres and the Division.

 

'With Honours' Degrees

 

Rather than having a separate one-year Honours program, some bachelor degrees have a 'with Honours' option.  Degrees with honours are four or more years in duration and include a minimum of one year of advanced studies for students who demonstrate a high level of achievement in the initial years of the program.  Students who have a grade point average of 5 or above (credit level average), will be identified and invited to enrol in the honours stream prior to the start of the final year of the program.  Dependent upon which school you are enrolled in, students are encouraged to undertake their research projects in the policy or practice context so that learning is highly experiential, and findings contribute to the development of evidence-based practice in a variety of fields.  An important aspect of the "with Honours program" is that research is approached as a practice competency involving the systematic exploration of contemporary issues.

 

Why Do Honours?

There are a number of important benefits to be gained from undertaking an Honours program.  Some of these include:

Applying for Honours

Applicants are selected on the basis of academic merit and the availability of a supervisor in the proposed area of research. Applicants need to have achieved:

  1. an average grade of credit or better in their undergraduate degree in the specialisations they wish to study at Honours level, or
  2. in the case of graduates from another approved degree a record of academic achievement equal to a credit or better in the specialisations they wish to study at Honours level

Applications for entry into any specialisation within the BA (Hons) can be made online. Click here to apply online.

For more information on Honours degrees please contact the Honours Degree Coordinator in the relevant school: Art, Architecture, Communication, David Unaipon College of Indigenous Education and Research, Education, International studies. Psychology, and Social Work and Social Policy.

 

Research at the University of South Australia

Building on your undergraduate degree, the Honours year is an introduction to further academic research.  UniSA has many options for higher degree by research students with strong multidisciplinary research concentrations with the scale and focus to deliver high quality research outcomes.  The Division of Education, Arts and Social Sciences focuses on research of demonstrable social, environmental or economic impact, and the ability to implement initiatives to promote a dynamic research and commercialisation environment.

 

If you are interested in undertaking further research studies at UniSA, or would like more information, please visit our Research Degrees website.

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